Commissioners set county Dump Day for Oct. 16

Osage County commissioners on Sept. 7 voted to set Saturday, Oct. 16 as the next of the county's semi-annual dump days. The hours for the dump day will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Residents will be able to drop off unwanted items at county shop facilities. County road shops are located at 8th and Pecan in Pawhuska; at 60810 State Highway 11 in Shidler; at 516 South 5th Street in Barnsdall; at 63476 U.S. Highway 60 in McCord; at 2850 W. 133rd St. North in Skiatook; at 604 Cotton Gin in Hominy; and at 100 North 1st Street in Fairfax.

Accepted materials for disposal include tires without rims (no tire dealers), appliances/furniture; mattresses/box springs; and wood/brush.

Items not accepted include household trash, household hazardous waste, commercial or contractor trash, and paint or other chemicals.

If you have questions, call 1-800-259-1570.

The Board of County Commissioners also voted Sept. 7 to seek bids for a new camera system for the Osage County Courthouse.

District 1 Commissioner Randall Jones said the county had already received one offer for a new system, priced at $136,600. Jones said the current courthouse camera system is perhaps 7-8 years old. He explained that he would like for a new system to offer a facial recognition and tracking feature.

In other business, the commissioners decided to engage INCOG (the Indian Nations Council of Governments) to do redistricting work for Osage County based on the 2020 Census. Redistricting involves trying to redraw district lines to make sure each commissioner represents roughly the same number of constituents.

Current population figures are 13,917 in District 1, 17,376 in District 2, and 14,525 in District 3, Jones said. He noted that his district needs to gain population. He also suggested that District 2, represented by Steve Talburt, could be allowed to remain as high as 36 percent of the total in order to help Talburt when it comes to the division of funds for road and bridge improvements. Talburt's share of the population right now is about 37.9 percent.

The commissioners named themselves the official point of contact for Osage County on redistricting matters.

The Osage County board also recently gave approval for Kyme Vincent, the director of the county's Nutrition Program, to move ahead with the hiring of a new social services specialist, who will make home visits to clients.

Vincent told the commissioners that federal COVID-19 relief funds, which she has three years to spend, will make it possible to hire the new staff member. Her remarks came in context of a discussion among the commissioners about a vehicle that had been purchased for the Nutrition Program but had seen little use.

Jones commented that the vehicle, which cost some $27,000, had been driven just 3,000 miles in five years.

"We bought a vehicle for you and we're still paying you for travel," Jones said.

Vincent said the new social services specialist will be assigned to use the vehicle. She said that she had been keeping the vehicle from being "driven into the ground" until she could make the best possible use of it.

District 3 Commissioner Darren McKinney urged Vincent to move ahead immediately with the social services program